Middle East conflict is impacting regional travel, Virgin Atlantic CEO says

The war between Israel and Hamas is deterring travel across portions of the Middle East, according to the head of Virgin Atlantic Airways, suggesting that the impact on airlines may extend beyond the specific flight restrictions recently put in place. “The major impact has been, of course, that people are not flying into Israel and they’re not flying also to the area — into Jordan, into Egypt, into other locations,” Shai Weiss, the British carrier’s CEO, said Monday in an interview on Bloomberg TV. While the impact on Virgin Atlantic has been limited, the situation remains “unpredictable.” The warning underscores the uncertainty for the air travel market after the outbreak of fighting led carriers to suspend service to Tel Aviv earlier this month. United Airlines Holdings Inc. last week cited the war as it forecast quarterly profit well below Wall Street’s expectations. Delta is closely watching cities in Europe, particularly Paris, for any potential impact to demand as the situation in Israel continues to develop, CEO Ed Bastian said in a separate interview. The carrier has not seen any drop off in travel demand in other nearby countries, he said. “You could expect if they persist in the state of war, that Europe to the US is very much a channel that you could see more people flock to,” Weiss said in a later interview. “It’s always the same case — a sense of safety, familiarity and just confidence.” Adding to the strain on carriers, Weiss said the price of jet fuel “has gone up quite considerably” since the war began. The CEO also said the economic recovery is trending about a year behind that of the US. Bastian, speaking in the television interview, said he expects a “good landing” for the US.<br/>